Eating less cuts Alzheimer’s symptoms in mice: study

By Amanda Beck

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Eating fewer calories may help
prevent the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, researchers
reported on Friday.

A study in mice suggests a lower-calorie diet can help
trigger the production of a protein that protects the brain
from the disease, said researchers at the Mount Sinai School of
Medicine in New York City.

In the study, the mice in one group were permitted to eat
as they wished, while the other group of mice was fed only 70
percent of that amount.

When the animals were killed six months later, researchers
discovered the brains of the calorie-restricted mice held
significantly higher levels of an anti-aging protein, SIRT1,
the researchers reported in the July issue of the Journal of
Biological Chemistry.

That protein has been shown to curtail and reverse the
production of plaque in the brain, a typical symptom of
Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers have found the protein can
also enhance the function of a patient’s metabolism, kidneys
and liver.

“The real message is that, in an animal model of
Alzheimer’s disease, caloric restriction led to the elevation
of molecules that are associated with longevity and good
health,” said Dr. Giulio Pasinetti, a professor of psychiatry
and neuroscience who led the study.

“This may be the reason why caloric restriction may work to
prevent Alzheimer’s disease.”

According to the National Institute of Aging, about 4.5
million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease, the most
common cause of elderly dementia.

Its first symptom is often a mild forgetfulness that
escalates into an inability to care for oneself and,
eventually, death. There is no cure, and treatments merely
delay the progression of the disease for a short time.

The Mount Sinai study bolsters other research that has
found a relationship between what and how much people eat and
risk for the disease in general.

“The same things that we know are good for your body —
particularly your vascular system — are all part of
maintaining healthy brain function,” said Dr. Bill Thies, a
staff pharmacologist at the Alzheimer’s Association.

Pasinetti said his team had already replicated their
experiment in monkeys and recorded similar results. They hope
to begin a human version of the study by the end of the year.

Subjects would likely be near 70 years of age and submit to
a more modest calorie reduction of perhaps 10 or 15 percent.